I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 825 This is truly the strategy of the Holy King
September in autumn, Luoyang.
The imperial palace gardens are filled with chrysanthemums.

"This, the Dajian Workshop not only doesn't cost the court a penny, but can also make a lot of money?"

The empress sat beside Su Yao for a long time, gazing at him, little stars twinkling in her clear eyes.

"From the imperial examination system, the performance evaluation system to franchise, General, what on earth is in your head that you can come up with so many brilliant ideas!"

And obviously, not only Wannian, but also young Liu Xie had a look of admiration on his face.

As the former emperor, Liu Xie knew very well that the biggest problem of the Han Dynasty was money!

Without money, there will be no soldiers, and without soldiers, there will be no way to control those ambitious rebels.

Over the years, including his father, countless emperors have worked hard to make money, but the aristocratic families refused to cooperate, resulting in serious confrontation between imperial power and the aristocratic families. Not only did the finances become increasingly exhausted, but the power over personnel was also gradually out of their hands.

Looking around, all the government offices of the imperial court were filled with the cronies of the aristocratic families, who made the emperor close his eyes and ears. The local areas gradually got out of control, and he could only rely on eunuchs and relatives to control the situation.

However, the imperial examination system proposed by the general was a powerful solution, and it achieved remarkable results once it was implemented.

They never thought that one day, without any ruthless action, they would be able to make it difficult for a wealthy family like the Yuan family to enter officialdom.

what does this mean?
This means the dawn of the revival of imperial power!
The reason why aristocratic families were able to gradually grow larger, control the channels for selecting talents, recommend each other through the system of recommendation, form huge interest groups, and even give rise to behemoths such as three officials in four generations, is due to their monopoly on talents.

Now, with the emergence of the imperial examination system, children from poor families have a way to rise. Even if aristocratic families have great power, they cannot guarantee that all their descendants will have smooth careers.

The implementation of the performance evaluation system made officials at all levels of the court dare not slack off, and administrative efficiency was greatly improved. Those who were in name only and had too many people but not enough work were exposed under the strict assessment, and mediocre people were gradually cleared out of the officialdom.

Today, this franchise is also eye-catching.

Indeed, Liu Xie is no longer the emperor, but he still lives in the palace, stays with his sister, and is very familiar with court affairs.

He knew very well why the first imperial examination took so long to prepare, and why the second imperial examination had to be delayed for such a long time?

The biggest reason is the lack of materials, that is, there are no teaching materials and paper.

As for the official workshop in Luoyang, although it has undergone Su Yao's technical improvements and has achieved higher output after stabilizing the situation and reopening.

However, it is obviously a fantasy to rely solely on this workshop to meet the examination needs of tens of thousands of students in a short period of time.

Just to print unified official textbooks, Su Yao picked up woodblock printing again and recruited all the craftsmen around the capital. They worked at full capacity, but the demand could not be fully met. They could only provide one copy to each teacher, and there was a phenomenon of more than a dozen students sharing one book.

Even during exams, a large number of bamboo slips were mixed together, all due to the insufficient paper production.

It can be said that the imperial court invested a lot of manpower and material resources in this imperial examination, but it was still unsustainable.

If the imperial examination is to be made a custom and if the three-level examination system from the capital to the local areas is to be established as planned by Su Yao, then it would be impossible to maintain it only by relying on the official workshop in Luoyang and the pitiful production capacity of Saeki's private workshop.

Therefore, it is imperative to build a large workshop, which is a rare consensus among officials in the court recently.

However, just one papermaking and printing workshop cost the imperial court a lot of energy and money. If they wanted to expand it across the country, no, just in the areas under their direct control, the cost would be an astronomical figure that the imperial court could not afford.

"We need to build schools in every county? And hold examinations every three years in every county seat?"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"Even if we can invite a teacher, we don't have that many bamboo slips, paper and teaching materials. We can't let the students write on the ground!" In the court, all the ministers expressed their clear concerns about Su Yao's ambitions.

They knew that Su Yao had obviously tasted the sweetness of his first imperial examination, and now he was excited and wanted to expand it across the country.

However, the difficulties at the practical level cannot be solved by personal ambition alone.

Without money and property, you can't accomplish this even if you have great power.

However, no one expected that in the face of doubts, Su Yao simply said a few words and suppressed everyone's doubts.

"The franchise system can solve this problem."

The imperial court is short of money, making it difficult for government-run workshops to expand on a large scale?

Then we can use the franchise system to allow local families to participate and bear this part of the cost.

To put it simply, the franchise system proposed by Su Yao means that the imperial court authorizes the papermaking and printing technology to local families or wealthy businessmen, allowing them to set up workshops locally, produce paper and books, and sell them for profit.

In return, these workshops needed to pay certain licensing fees and patent fees to the court, and produce teaching materials and examination papers according to the court's requirements.

These aristocratic families have money, resources, and connections. As long as we give them appropriate benefits and policy guidance, there is no doubt that they will be tempted.

Moreover, this will enable them to transform from mere power seekers to participants and beneficiaries of reform, thereby reducing resistance to reform.

In this way, the imperial court not only does not need to invest a lot of money, but can also increase fiscal revenue through franchise fees. Local families and wealthy merchants can make profits by operating workshops, while also enhancing their reputation and influence in the local area.

More importantly, this model could rapidly expand the production of paper and books, meet the needs of the imperial examinations, and promote the popularization of education.

As soon as Su Yao proposed this policy, it immediately won applause from the whole court.

"Excellent, excellent!" Xun Yu was the first to praise.

The other ministers also nodded. Although many of them still had doubts in their hearts, they had to admit that Su Yao's plan did solve the current dilemma.

"In this way, the court can save expenses and quickly expand the production of paper and books. It is really the best of both worlds." Wang Yun also expressed his agreement.

The Wannian Empress looked at Su Yao with admiration in her eyes: "The general is indeed very talented. Once this plan is put forward, the imperial examination can be smoothly carried out."

"Not only that, the franchise system can also drive the development of the local economy."

Su Yao chuckled and continued:

"The establishment of a workshop requires a large amount of ordinary manpower and can provide employment opportunities for local poor people."

"At the same time, the popularization of paper and books can also promote the spread of our cultural undertakings, improve the literacy rate of the people, and cultivate more talents for the court."

Taifu Lu Zhi nodded repeatedly, stroking his beard and exclaiming:
"The general's plan is indeed far-sighted. This franchise system can increase revenue and promote the imperial examinations for the court; it can promote industry and benefit people's livelihood in the local area; and it can promote culture and cultivate talents for the whole country."

"In ancient times, the sage kings who wanted to bring peace all made the promotion of education and learning their top priority. Now the great general has implemented this good policy, so that all students in the world have books to read and paper to use. This is truly a blessing for the people and the country."

"Given time, culture and education will flourish, and talented people will emerge. The revival of our Han Dynasty is just around the corner. This is truly the strategy of a sage king!"

(End of this chapter)